What TechGirlz taught me

Most days I feel quite content with life in terms of my career path. I went to school, then college, did well, got a job, a job that I really wanted, and will start making money. And then some days like today, just leave me in awe of those women who dreamed of something more, than just the usual.

Today I attended the first TechGirlzOrg event which was filled with women speakers that had the will and courage to build something from scratch and become entrepreneurs. Women who shied away from technology and then one idea got them closer to it. Some were fashion designers, some mere college freshmen and some all about coding, and all it took was an idea and loads of belief in their product.

I was most impressed with Susan Gregg Koger, the founder of Mod Cloth, one of the leading vintage clothing online store. Her story is truly inspirational. She started out from her dorm room selling few outfits, and now owns a multi-million dollar business with her husband. I really wish I had that much belief in something.

And then there was Gloria Bell, one of the founders of Red Stapler Consulting and her journey from being one of the first women in the Jersey area to step into hard core computing, to being an entrepreneur herself.

And if you’ve ever heard of XipWire, you should know one of the co-founders is also a woman, who had nothing to do with technology while growing up, and in fact was a fashion designer. Sibyl Lindsay decided to take the plunge, when she was presented with the an idea of transferring money between accounts via texting and she went for it. She became an entrepreneur, changed her career path, and did what she believed in.

Pheww…

This is not it.

There were so many others who did not present and were just there to support this event and promote technology to middle school girls, all thanks to Tracey Welson-Rossman, the brain behind Techgirlz and one of the co-founders of Chariot Solutions.

Seeing all women entrepreneurs is a rarity, but when they do come together to show what they have done, and so much more of what they can do is beyond inspirational.